Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>If a Notice of Commencement is not filed on a commercial Michigan project, are my lien rights affected as a subcontractor?
If a Notice of Commencement is not filed on a commercial Michigan project, are my lien rights affected as a subcontractor?
We are working as a subcontractor on a commercial project where there has been no NOC filed (it was a small, fast project). In the event that we have payment issues, are our lien rights affected? We did file a Notice of Furnishing.
1 reply
Feb 27, 2019
A Michigan notice of commencement (NOC) is the owner/client's responsibility at the start of the project. When a notice of commencement is filed, this alerts subcontractors to file a notice of furnishing within 20 days of the date of "first furnishing of labor/materials." This ensures that the owner/client is aware of any and all potential lien claimants. Failure to file a NOC only results in the extension of the deadline for subs to file a notice of furnishing. If there is no NOC filed on a project, subs are then required to file a notice of furnishing within 20 days of the filing of the NOC. Failure to timely file a notice of furnishing does not completely destroy lien rights. However, it will affect the right to pursue payment for work that was performed prior to the notice of furnishing. A subcontractor who has properly filed a notice of furnishing will be able to secure their full lien rights by filing a claim of lien within 90 days of the last date of furnishing labor or materials. For more information check out zlien's Michigan Lien & Notice FAQs.